Eyes of Sorrow
by KirbyCrusher123
Summary: AU Being rejected by the home you swear to protect can lead you down a dark and dangerous path. Some can survive and come out stronger while others get lost along the way. Follow along as Naruto travels this path, with his few precious people as guides. Non-YAOI Don't like, GTFO!
1. Prologue

Eyes of Sorrow- Prologue

The snow fell slowly as an 8 year old Naruto Uzumaki gazed out his broken window. He shivered under his small blanket as the shattered window provided little protection against the elements.

Naruto always hated this time of year. In truth, the whole year was terrible for him, but the last three months were always the worst. First, there was October 10th, his birthday. He would always hide in his small apartment and wait for the villagers to break in and take him for the annual 'fox hunt'. The winner would receive 1,000 ryo and the pleasure of lighting the pyre with Naruto on top. Most of the time ANBU would save him before the flames got too bad but the smoke was terrible for his lungs and he still had a scar on his left wrist. He had always healed fast for no particular reason, but the scar had stayed. It served as a reminder to Naruto that he would never be loved.

The next month would be host to Thanksgiving. Every November 26 the villagers and shinobi would be reminded of the loved ones that were lost during the Kyuubi attack. They would look for him in order to 'end the demon's life' as payback for all of the things they weren't thankful for.

The worst of them all was the month of December. While there were no beatings, mobs, or 'Fox hunts', that day in particular hurt more that the rest of the year combined. It was the one day where all of his sadness and nightmares were thrown in his face. He would see people all over the place running to stores to get gifts for family and friends. He would see children yell and run around the streets with their parents and toys after Christmas. Naruto was jealous of all the kids who took it for granted, as he would give anything to have a family. On New Year's Eve he would be barricaded into his home as the village thought it was a sign of bad luck to talk about the 'demon' let alone see him. Sometimes he would be forgotten for days. Naruto just stayed in his room and cried.

Pushing his harmful memories to the back of his mind, Naruto got out of bed and got dressed. It was about 9:30 and Ichiraku's was about to close. He didn't want them to lose business by serving 'the demon' so he went right before they closed at 10. He looked around his room for the hideous jumpsuit and left the apartment. Naruto didn't bother with the lock as his few valuables were hidden under a loose floorboard in his closet. As he walked the less frequented streets of Konoha he looked at his clothes and tightened his fists. He loved the color orange, but this was way too much. The jumpsuit just screamed 'Hey! Here I am! Come beat me senseless' and he thought it was stupid for him to where something like that if he was going to be a super awesome ninja. Naruto knew that the first step to becoming Hokage was being the best ninja in the village, and he couldn't do that if he kept wearing 'kill me' orange. But it was the only thing that the villagers would sell him, as to make it easier for the fox hunt. Maybe he should just end it. Red might look better on him that orange and the village wouldn't care.

Naruto shook his head and stepped into the ramen stand. He didn't like the morbid path that his thoughts had taken. Putting on his metaphorical mask, Naruto sat on the stool farthest to the left and ordered his food.

"Hey Ayame-nee-chan, Teuchi-ojiisan. Can I have 3 of the usual?"  
*************************************

After filling up on 15 bowls of ramen Naruto began his trek home. He decided to take the long way through the forest so he wouldn't have to see the happy families in their homes. About halfway home he heard sobbing and, being the good guy that he is, decided to go check it out. Naruto ran towards the frozen lake where the crying originated. What he saw shortly after shocked him beyond belief. There was Sasuke Uchiha, _the Sasuke Uchiha_ , crying at the lake side. Naruto decided he would go and cheer him up, but before he got there Naruto stepped on a small twig, snapping it and alerting Sasuke to his presence. Sasuke became rigid and Naruto saw him wiping his eyes. He turned around and spoke in an angry, almost scared tone.

"What do you want?"

"I heard you crying and I wanted to cheer you up." Naruto said with a goofy grin on his face.

"Drop it" Sasuke said quietly.

"Huh?"

"I said drop it. You have a mask on and I want you to take it off. I've seen you around the village. You act like an idiot in that hideous jumpsuit because you want attention." He spoke up this time, speaking in a snooty fashion.

"Only if you drop yours"

"W-what do you mean" Sasuke stammered. He glared at Naruto in a feeble attempt to intimidate him.

"You have a mask too. You walk around the village acting like a spoiled brat, acting like you deserve everything and everything. You don't want people to like you so they won't get to close. So they won't hurt you when they leave. Plus, only people with masks can identify others." Naruto explained, staring at Sasuke's eyes with the fiery determination.

"Fine" Sasuke said with a small grin on his face. "You probably know my name already but I'll introduce myself anyways. I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He said with a hand outstretched.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Y-you want to be my friend?" The abused boy said with a shy smile, grabbing Sasuke's hand and shaking it.

"I would like that"

The two talked for a bit before they decided it was time to go home. Naruto found that his life wasn't completely miserable and looked forward to their next meeting.

 **Hey guys and gals. I plan to update whenever i finish a chapter so there will probably be about a week in between each post. Unlike my other fic this one wont have a beta so it will be a lot quicker. Dont forget to leave a review and check out the pol on my account. See ya!**


	2. Chapter 1

Eyes of Sorrow-ch1

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office looking over this year's passing Genin. He was tasked with forming the newest Genin teams and was given folders with all of the passing students' information along with a list of the students who failed. The old Hokage was remorseful as he gazed at the last name on the list. He remembered the day that it was decided that Naruto would attend the academy two years early. The council had called a meeting on the accounts of civilians seeing him with Sasuke Uchiha. The civilian council along with the council of elders wanted him placed in one of Danzo's training facilities while the Hokage wanted him to be left alone. Shibi Aburame, in the hopes that someone would help the young jinchuuriki, had proposed the compromise that he be enrolled in the academy at a young age with the older generation who would be less vulnerable to his tricks. Danzo was a bit irritated as he was denied the Kyuubi while the rest of the council was satisfied with the Aburame's reasoning. The boy was enrolled and struggled for two years and ultimately failing the final exam twice. If he didn't step up next year Naruto couldn't legally become a shinobi of the leaf and there would be nothing to protect him from becoming one of Danzo's weapons.

Naruto was sitting on a lone swing set in the yard outside of the academy. He was watching as his classmates showed their parents the hitai-ate that they got for passing the Genin exam. This was his second time failing but he wasn't all that upset. After all, it was all a part of the plan.

Flashback

It was a week after the 3rd had asked to speak to Naruto alone. At first he thought nothing of it as they didn't hang out every day. But after Naruto's week of truancy, the Uchiha was rather irritated. The Hokage wouldn't tell him where his friend was and he was never at home so he decided to wait in front of his door with snacks to last him all day. At about 4:30 he saw his friend coming home. He waited for Naruto to open the door and then snuck in behind him.

Naruto was feeling exhausted. Between a week of school, the older bullies, the glares of the villagers and Hokage-jiji telling him he shouldn't see Sasuke for a while, the boy was about to collapse. Just before he fell on his small couch Naruto felt something strike the back of his head. He quickly turned and yelled in Sasuke's general direction. The blond wasn't paying attention to who was in his house. Sasuke ignored the shout and sent a harsh glare towards Naruto.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why have you been avoiding me? You never come to hang out with me anymore. I thought we were friends!?" Sasuke said, shouting near the end of his question while tears threatened to fall from his jet black orbs. This was a rare moment of weakness for the Uchiha and he wasn't proud of that fact. Naruto began to inspect his feet, finding them more interesting than answering his first friend.

"Fine, if that's how it is then I'll just leave" Sasuke calmly said. He had put the metaphorical mask back on to hide his tears, and as this was the one action that they agreed not to do when by themselves, Naruto knew he was about to lose his friend for good. His face went through one hundred different expressions until it settled on determination. He grabbed Sasuke's sleeve to prevent him from leaving and cleared his throat.

"I-it was Hokage-jiji. He told me to stay away from you for a while"

"Explain"

And so he did. Naruto told Sasuke about his talk with the Sandaime, his enrollment in the academy, and how this was all because some villagers saw the two of them hanging out.

Near the end of his friends tale Sasuke was furious. How dare they try to take away his friend, the only thing keeping him sane in this god forsaken village. He would have left in search of Itachi a long time ago if Naruto hadn't talked him out of it. Now they were trying to separate the two by making him a ninja two years before the rest of his generation. There would be hell to pay the next time he saw a village council member. He started pacing the room while Naruto set his backpack near the small kitchen, intent on getting some ramen before punishing his brain. Seeing this gave Sasuke an idea.

"Naruto, when do you take the Genin exam?"

"You have to have a year of mandatory classes before you have a year of ninja classes" Naruto responded pulling a flier out of his backpack to answer the question. "If you fail the exam twice you have to take the mandatory classes again and if you fail 3 times you're removed from the program."

"Do you know what this means?! If you purposely fail the first two exams then we could be in the same class for the mandatory and ninja classes! We might even be able to be on the same squad!"

Flashback end

After Sasuke told Naruto of his plan they proceeded to meet with each other every day after school. Naruto never did his homework and got the lowest grades in the class. It was the best way to stick together.

Naruto heard footsteps and turned around to see Sasuke walking towards him from the gate. All the parents had taken their kids home and the instructors were inside.

"Let's go" Sasuke said as he started to walk away. "Right"


	3. Chapter 2

Hey guys and gals. Sorry for the wait. Here's the long overdue chapter. Enjoy!

Eyes of Sorrow-Ch2

"…can anyone tell me how the second Hokage died during the First Shinobi World War?" asked Iruka. The scarred Chunin turned around to call on a student and saw several with their hands up. He picked Shikamaru, who was obviously asleep, to answer his question. When the instructor received a grunt instead of the desired reply he turned to Naruto, who was busy scribbling in his notebook instead of listening.

"Naruto, can you answer me?"

"Um, sorry Iruka-sensei can you repeat the question?"

"Sure Naruto, I'll tell you and Shikamaru all about it in detention after class. Maybe next time you two will pay attention. Now who can answer my question?"

Iruka called on Sakura, who was eager to answer the teacher, if her quivering hand was any indication.

"The Second Hokage died fighting against Kumogakure forces. He sacrificed himself as a decoy in order for his subordinates to escape." She said with an air of confidence.

"Thank you Sakura. Now before you leave, don't forget that this weekend is the last dance of the school year. It will be on Saturday and the civilian school will be participating as well. Since you guys will be taking the Genin exam on Monday and next year they will be going to High School, we're putting extra work in to make this memorable for you. Remember to prepare for your exams." As Iruka finished speaking the bell rang, signifying the end of class. Naruto leapt out of his seat and ran towards the door, only to be caught by his collar and held in the air as the rest of class walked out, some laughing as they passed by.

"Now, care to share what you were doing since it obviously wasn't paying attention?"

XxxXxxX

Naruto walked over to the park that Sasuke and he would always meet up at. The blond walked through the gate to witness a group of academy students surrounding him.

"So Sasuke, are you taking anybody special to the dance?" a black haired academy student asked.

"He obviously wouldn't want to go with a little bimbo like you Ayuki. He has more class than that." said a second voice from the crowd.

Naruto immediately knew what he had to do. He pulled out a kunai and wrapped a slip of paper on the hilt. Once he was sure it wouldn't fall off, Naruto threw the kunai into the center of the group, where it fell in between Sasuke's feet. The normally stoic boy picked it up and read _section: A number: 43_. He grinned and put the kunai in his holster. Less than a second later he shot towards the gate, and into the village. There were many shouts of "He's getting away!" or "Sasuke-kun!" and soon the whole group was following him.

Sasuke cut into an alleyway and realized it was a dead end. He slowly turned around to see the entire group block his only exit. They were determined to know who he chose to go with and refused to take no for an answer.

Suddenly, their Sasuke-kun vanished in a burst of smoke and in his place was a log. A moment later they were all drenched in something colorful. The crowd of fan girls looked to the rooftops to see Naruto laughing and several different paint buckets scattered above them.

"HAHAHAHA! You guys totally fell for it! Sasuke wouldn't want to take any of you to the dance if you can't recognize a simple prank like that." Naruto continued his taunting and watched as their expressions slowly turned from horror to rage. He decided to make a 'tactical retreat' while they were still on the ground and meet back up with Sasuke at the Uchiha compound.

XxxXxxX

"What do you mean you aren't going to the dance tomorrow?!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke were in the Uchiha compound and Sasuke had just told Naruto about not going to the dance.

"Dude, if you don't go then I'll just be there by myself!"

"Shut up and come here. I have something for you since you probably couldn't get one yourself." Sasuke said as he walked over to his closet. Naruto followed and caught a face full of fabric.

"Wear that tomorrow. I'm not going because there would to many fangirls trying to dance with me. It's for everyone else's safety."

As Sasuke finished his sentence Naruto pulled the cloth from his face and held it out in front of him to get a good look. It was a traditional kimono that was mostly orange, although the shoulder region as well as the lining and obi were jet black.

Naruto stood there shocked. The fabric in his hand felt expensive, like, "Silk…"

"Yea I thought I would give my little brother something nice. Think of it as an early birthday present."

Although furious at the little brother comment, 'Sasuke's only 4 months older than me!' Naruto held his tongue as to not ruin the moment.

A knock on the front door interrupted their conversation. Sasuke sighed and got up to answer the door, mumbling something about dumb villagers. He opened the door to reveal a pink haired youth from their class. Sasuke sighed again because he already knew why she was here. Sakura didn't catch the sign of irritation and timorously began to speak.

"S-Sasuke, I-I was just w-wondering If y-you wanted to go t-to the dance with me t-tomorrow?" She said with all the confidence she could muster at that point, which wasn't much. Sasuke just stood there with a bored look on his face. He was tired of the constant badgering he got from his classmates. Sasuke looked up at her and said in the plainest way possible, trying to get the message across, "No."

Sakura looked up at him with hurt, and out of her peripheral she saw a shock of orange, sticking out in the traditionally styled household. Her countenance changed from depressed to one of anger.

"How do you even know where I live?" Sasuke asked. Sakura, still staring at what she hoped wasn't Naruto, replied, "My mom is on the civilian council, she told me."

Suddenly Sasuke was shoved out of the way and landed in the bush next to his door. His lags were flailing in a comical fashion while Sakura marched into Sasuke's house.

"Naruto-baka! What are you doing in Sasuke's house?! He doesn't like you and neither do I!"

Naruto looked down at his feet, the flooring more interesting than his crush. Their last conversation rang through his mind like a nightmare. _You're so annoying. Why don't you just leave me alone? No one in this room cares about you. He doesn't like you and neither do I._ Naruto was sick of it. Blindly chasing after her was getting him nowhere. And while he liked to think of himself as inured to her insults, this was the last straw.

Without even responding to her question Naruto ran full speed towards the door and then to his home. By this time Sasuke had gotten out of the bush and was starring at Naruto's retreating form. He looked back inside to see Sakura getting up off the floor. Sasuke walked forwards and asked with all of the tranquility he could muster, "What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just asked him what he was doing here and he stormed off. It doesn't matter anyways, Naruto just picks fights with you. That's probably why he was in your house now. You know why he's so annoying? It's because he wasn't raised right. He doesn't have a mom or dad, no one to teach him right from wrong. Think about it, he just does whatever comes into his head. If I did things like Naruto forget it, I mean my parents would get mad and I'd get in trouble so of course I don't do it. But if you don't have parents to tell you how would you know. He's selfish and bratty. He's all alone."

"Alone, Isolated…" The last Uchiha said, interrupting her rant.

"Huh"

"It's not about your parents scolding you. You have no idea what it means to be alone."

"W-Why are you saying that?"

"Because, you're annoying."

XxxXxxX

It was the day of the dance. Academy and civilian students were filling into the large gym. There were streamers and lights everywhere. In the gym, Naruto could hear a DJ playing different songs. It was pretty late and many people were there including most of his classmate's like Choji, who was eating as many snacks as he could before Iruka-sensei or one of the other adults comes and stops him, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura.

Naruto saw Sakura and decided to apologize. Even though he kept telling himself that he was done, Naruto's feelings were still there and he felt bad about storming out of Sasuke's house and knocking her down.

Naruto walked over to the snack table, around Choji, and got a cup of punch, planning to give it to Sakura. Said pinkette was talking to Ino about the events of last night.

"He really said that?" Ino asked Sakura. She couldn't believe that Sasuke would come to Naruto's defense like that. "What happened after that?"

"Well…"

"Um, Sakura do you have a second?" Naruto said from behind where the two were standing. She turned around to look at the boy and noticed he was holding a cup of punch.

"Sakura I just wanted to apologize for knocking you over last night. I was just in a hurry." Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression as he said this. He handed her the drink and said, "Here, this is for you."

"It's fine Naruto, but what were you doing at his house in the first place?" She said sweetly. Sasuke's words rang through her mind and she wanted to try and treat the blond a little nicer.

"Uh, I was just hanging out with Sasuke. He even gave me the kimono I'm wearing."

Sakura kept her skeptical gaze fixed on him, until a sudden splash surprised Naruto. Said blond just stood there, dazed and soaking wet, while Sakura and Ino walked off. He could hear their conversation fading as they got farther away from him.

"Can you believe him?! He has the nerve to lie to me after I try to be nice to him. Such a…"

He didn't hear the last part but he had heard enough. Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He ran out of the gym, tears streaming down his face.

XxxXxxX

"Come on Tamoko! Why don't you just ask him?!" A young girl complained. They were standing in the gym and Kazuki, the one complaining, wanted Tamoko to ask her crush to dance for her.

"No Kazuki. I'm done being your wingman. You need to grow some backbone. The worst he can do is say no."

"But it's so hard. Please will you ask him for me?! I'll do anything! I'll even…" As her friend continued her badgering, Tamoko saw a blond haired boy in an expensive looking kimono running away from what looked like two girls walking in the opposite direction. In the spot where she guessed they were standing originally was a large puddle.

"…and I'll do your homework for you, and I'll-"

"Hold on Kazuki." Tamoko said as she ran outside, after the blond boy. Once outside, she saw him jump from the door to the roof of the opposite building. 'so he's a ninja' she thought. The young brunette looked around and found a ladder leading up to the top. Once at the top, she saw the ninja to-be gazing off in the distance and tried to sneak up behind him.

"Why are you here?"

"H-how did you know…"

"I can hear your footsteps, their very loud." The blond said. "Hey, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you." Now that she could get a full view of him, she saw that he had 3 whisker marks across each cheek, probably drawn on as a ninja thing. She looked higher on his face and saw he had sky blue eyes filled with depression.

The first thing Naruto noticed when he turned around was her emerald green eyes. They weren't green like Sakura's. They were more bright, more animated. They contrasted greatly with her dark brown hair and bright yellow dress.

"Hi. I'm Tamoko Iwasaki. I saw what happened. D-do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. Girls are complicated."

"Well, who better for you to talk to than a girl?"

"No it's ok, thanks though." Naruto said with a small grin.

"Then if you don't want to talk, do you want to dance?" She bashfully asked. "It's ok if you don't. I know you might not like me because I'm not a ninj- AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Tamoko was interrupted by Naruto picking her up bridal style. She started screaming when he jumped into the air.

Deciding to show off, Naruto jumped to a higher rooftop and then, as he jumped to the gym's door, Naruto flipped a couple of times. He landed on his feet in front of the door, and Tamoko's hair was everywhere. He let her get down with a grin and, on wobbly legs, Tamoko punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

(Cue 'Alone Together' From Steven Universe soundtrack :3)

Naruto started laughing and held out his arm for her. They walked into the gym with their arms intertwined. As Tamoko was giggling about how silly they must look, Naruto was trying to keep a brave face as he was still dealing with his own problems. The DJ was playing an upbeat song and they started to dance. Naruto spun Tamoko from his arms and grabbed both of her hands. Naruto began to gently push and pull both of her arms and they quickly fell into step with one another. He spun her in the air and both of Tamoko's arms ended up wrapped around her, her hands still holding Naruto's. He spun her again and this time she ended up with one hand on his shoulder the other still clasped in his hand. Naruto's right hand was on her waist.

Iruka looked at the dance floor from his spot on the wall with a small smile on his face. He was supervising the dance and it was nice for him to see that Naruto was having fun.

Nearby, Sakura and Ino were looking around for Sasuke. They had come to an agreement that the first to find him gets to dance with him. Suddenly, Ino grabbed her arm and tugged Sakura towards her.

"Forehead, look at that!"

"What is it pig?"

"I-it's Naruto. He's dancing with someone!"

"Who!"

And as she looked, Sakura saw a small crowd forming. There were many whispers about Tamoko, the usually shy girl, actually dancing, and with a Ninja no less. Others were talking about Naruto, the class idiot, actually dancing with a girl! Was the world ending?

"It seems we've gathered a crowd." Naruto said to his smaller companion.

"I don't suppose you have any cool ninja moves to get us out of this do you?" Tamoko replied nervously.

"What, you don't want to live in the limelight?"

"N-no. This is really embarrassing."

"Sure hold on tight." After that statement Tamoko grabbed onto Naruto and held him like her life depended on it. Not a moment later, the both of them vanished in a plume of smoke, in their place was a body sized log.

Tamoko let go of Naruto and looked up to see his grinning face. She looked around to see that they were back on top of the roof.

(End song)

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yea just a little…" she took a step and would have fallen if Naruto hadn't grabbed her wrist.

"You guys do that all the time?"

"Yea, you get used to it."Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head.

XxxXxxX

"What the hell was that! I thought he was still into you!" Ino screamed as she and Sakura sat down. The crowd had dissipated after the Kawarimi no Justu, yet the two were still on everyone's mind.

"I know! Did you see how they hugged before the jutsu? This is PERFECT!" Sakura replied with gusto. ' **Maybe now he will get off my back. That means no more Naruto-Baka getting in the way of me and Sasuke's love! CHA!** '

"Why are you so exited? This is Naruto we're talking about. You know the same guy that never gives up, ever. But then you threw that drink in his face. He's obviously using her to make you jealous. It's an insult to both you and that civilian girl!" Ino explained to her rival/best friend.

Sakura gasped as she thought about Ino's words. About a second later the platinum blond was host to a Sakura sized cloud of dust as her friend ran towards the door.

"Hey, where's she going?" said a voice behind the Yamanaka.

"Shikamaru? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! I told you to come early!" the girl barked.

As he cleaned out his ear, Shikamaru responded with, "I did. I was on the roof watching the clouds. But now it's too dark to see them. So I came inside and almost ran into an irate Sakura."

Ino deadpanned. Maybe she ought to teach him what she meant by early. Their parents had wanted them to go together for some reason but he was being so uncooperative.

She sighed and then proceeded to fill him in on what happened…

"That doesn't seem like something Naruto would do. He's dumb and kind and wouldn't purposely try to hurt someone like that, even if Sakura did what you said."

"B-but…"

"You do realize that he could have actually grown half a brain and decided to get over her, right?"

"Oh come on, this is Naruto were talking about. He doesn't give up on anything. Like his dream to be Hokage."

"Whatever you say, call me when you find out that I'm right." And with that, Shikamaru left the dance. It was ending anyways. Half of the people there had left and the DJ was only playing slow songs. As he was walking home he could hear shouts from the nearby rooftop.

'Naruto what have you gotten yourself into now? Why are all the blonds I know so troublesome?'

XxxXxxX

"Naruuutoooooo!" came Sakura's angered screech.

Naruto turned around from where he was standing. Tamoko and he were looking over the crowd for her father. The dance was ending, but she wanted to stay up here for as long as she could so they agreed that when she saw her father he would bring her down with his "sweet ninja skills", or so he called them.

Before even recognizing who was speaking, his face was on the receiving end of a vicious strike from Sakura. The back of his head had slammed into the concrete and Naruto stayed on the ground, trying to understand what had happened. Meanwhile, Tamoko was in a shouting match with the pinkette.

"Hey! Why would you do that out of nowhere! He did nothing too you!"

"Nothing?! NOTHING?! You call him trying to mess with my feelings nothing?! You were probably in on it too! Well guess what, it won't work!"

"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Naruto whispered from his spot on the ground. His skull had stopped hurting in that short amount of time thanks to his ungodly healing, but his head was still aching as his mind was going a mile a minute about the implications of what she had just said. Noticing his soft voice, Sakura paused and thought about what she was going to say next, wondering how to get this into his thick skull. Her hesitation gave birth to Naruto's rage, as he finally understood what she was talking about. She was mad about him dancing with another girl. Even though she never gave a damn about him and just recently through punch in his face, she was angry because of him dancing with someone else.

The orange clad ninja stood up and looked Sakura dead in the eye, his azure orbs overflowing with rage, and began to speak.

"How do you have the right to be mad at me? You've never even looked at me, but now that I'm not chasing your tail you're upset? It doesn't work that way Sakura. You know why I've had a crush on you for so long? You probably don't remember but, 7 years ago I was in the park sitting on the swing set, alone. Then, out of nowhere, you came and sat next to me. You were shy at first but then you looked over and asked me if I wanted to be your friend. I was so happy; I thought that I had made my first real friend." By this time, tears were running freely from his eyes. Naruto didn't even try to wipe them. "We ran and played until it was dark outside. But then your mom came to pick you up. She told you to get away from me, like I was some kind of disease, and you left, without even saying goodbye. I came back to that same place every day for a month, but you were never there. You just forgot about me. And now, I try to be you friend again, yet all I get is constant yelling and abuse. But you know what? I'm done. You win. You can find someone else to beat up." At the end of his rant, Naruto turned around to look for Tamoko's dad again, keeping in mind the short description he had received.

"N-Naruto, I-"

"Goodbye Sakura."

And with Naruto's cold interruption, Sakura jumped off the roof. She had to find Ino and tell her what happened.

Tamoko saw the ninja boy in a new light. His past seemed so dark and lonely. The civilian schoolgirl was determined to make his future brighter, one step at a time.

"Um, Naruto, when you were talking about your past with Sakura, you said that you were at the park alone, and that she could have been your first friend. Don't you have any parents or siblings?" Tamoko asked him with hesitation. She didn't want to pry but she needed to get a better understanding if she was going to help him.

"No. I've never known my mom or dad and Hokage-jiji said I don't have any living relatives, so no siblings. Hey isn't that your dad over there?"

"Yea that's- AHHHHHH."

Before she even finished her sentence, Naruto had picked her up bridal style a second time and jumped to where her father was. He set the flustered youth down in front of the older male, only to receive a look of mistrust and loathing.

"What were you doing with my daughter?" the man said in a deep, booming voice.

"Sir, we danced a bit inside but she wanted to leave early because people were starring so I took her to the roof until we saw you. Then I jumped down and here we are." Naruto said with an oblivious smile. His mask was obviously present, although no one noticed, as on the inside Naruto was bristling with rage as he recognized the look he was getting. It was that same look that he always got. He hated it.

"Daddy we didn't do anything up there. I was just a little nervous and he helped me."

"Helped you how, exactly?"

"We just talked." She emphasized the last word as to get the point across to her seemingly overprotective dad.

Not wanting to make a scene, the father made a judgment call and told his daughter to hurry up so they can leave. Tamoko turned around and gave Naruto a quick hug.

"Meet me at the park on Saturday at noon." She whispered in his ear. They let go and Naruto gave her a thumbs up with a goofy grin, making her giggle. Her dad clearing his throat was her cue that it was time to go and she ran up to her dad. As they were walking away, her dad began speaking to her.

"I don't want you around him."

"What? Why?"

"Because I said so. I don't want too lose you like I lost your mother."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Nothing. Never mind. Just promise me you'll be careful, alright?"

"Fine" she agreed. After all, she didn't promise that she would stay away from him. Just wait until Kazuki hears about this!


End file.
